Origin of Zhuang language

Introduction

This article which focus on the linguistic aspect is a companion article to the 'Ethnic origin of Zhuang' article.

The history of Zhuang languages started with proto-Tai which formed in Guangxi and Guangdong. There are two main languages which are Northern and Southern Zhuang. The historical development of these languages can be summarised in the chart below.

Tai language family

The Tai languages are largely monosyllabic and tonal languages just like Chinese languages.

The Northern Zhuang and Bouyei tribes speak languages that belong to the Northern Tai languages subfamily (purple region on map).

The Southern Zhuang, Nung and Tay tribes speak languages that belong to the Central Tai languages subfamily (brown region on map). The reason why these languages are called Central Tai and not Southern Tai languages is because there exist another group of Tai languages in South-East Asia which is called Southwestern Tai languages.

Chinese loanwords in Zhuang language

Zhuang languages like other Tai languages have absorbed many Yue Chinese loanwords but many of its basic words and grammar are Tai-Kadai in origin.

English	Chinese	Zhuang	Cantonese
Sea	海	Hai	Hoi
Shoes	鞋	Haai	Haai
Pass	過	Kua	Kuɔ

Zhuang writing

The Zhuang people adopted the Chinese characters for their writing based on the meaning of the characters. This writing system is called Sawndip and uses Tai grammar structure.

English	Sawndip	Zhuang
Ship	船	Leu
Star	星	Daau
Sky	天	Faa

This Chinese based writing can be seen from the first row of subtitles in the video below.

A writing system based on Latin characters was created in the 20th century with the help of the Chinese government. Unlike the Vietnamese language which uses tone markers to denote the tones, Zhuang uses an extra latin character at the end of the word to denote them. This latin writing system can be seen from the second row of subtitles in the video below.

The third row of subtitles explains the meaning of the song in Mandarin language.

Zhuang song

Ancient Vietnamese language

This list of words spoken by various Tai tribes provides linguistic proof that the natives in Red River delta are Tai people.

English	servant	people subject	assistant headman	village locality	headman	princess
Ancient Vietnamese	xao	hon	bo chinh	ket	phu dao	mi nuong
Tai-Dam /Black Tai	xao	xaa	po khun	khet	po tao	mae naang
Thai	Kha	khon	po khun	khet	phu tao	mae naang
Lao	kha	khon	po khun	khet	phu tao	mae naang
Zhuang	hoi	hon	bo hung	khet	bo tao	me naang

Conclusion

The Zhuang languages are related to the various Tai languages in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. This is due to migration of Tai people out from southern Guangxi to South East Asia during ancient times.

This article provides linguistic proof that the original Vietnamese language spoken in North Vietnam is a Tai language and not an Austroasiatic language as popularly believed.

The current Vietnamese language which isn't the same as the original Vietnamese language was largely developed from the other non-native ethnic groups in Vietnam.

Sources

The Birth of Vietnam, pgs 7-8. By Keith Taylor.
“Nong” of Southern China: Linguistic, Historical and Cultural Context. Author: Damrongphon Inchan. Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Achaeology, Silpakorn University, Thailand
http://www.udhri.be/ZHUANG%20LANGUAGES.html
http://www.languagesgulper.com/eng/Taikadai.html
Yü 1987.

East Asian origin, history, language, culture

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